The Jenison Public Education Foundation
In Prior School Years
2007-2008 School Year Projects Implemented
1. Project Title: Taking Ownership of My Nutrition Contact Person: Char Mervenne
The Jenison Public Education Foundation
In Prior School Years
2007-2008 School Year Projects Implemented
1. Project Title: Taking Ownership of My Nutrition Contact Person: Char Mervenne
This project helps young teens put into practice skills that will empower them to better control their health. By getting instant feedback, through
"Nutrition Fit Counters", they will be able to make better choices as to food intake and level of physical activity.
2. Project Title: Read Naturally Contact Person: Annie Barton
The goal of this program is to improve reading fluency by providing an oral fluency lab for use by students who need extra intervention.
The lab has been equipped with stories and materials from the Read Naturally Company.
3. Project Title: String Cheese Contact Person: Dan Scott
By bringing the group "String Cheese to the High School, we exposed orchestra students to rock/ hip string playing. A two-day workshop
and mini-concert took place with the Orchestra students.
4. Project Title: Diversity & Leadership Training Contact Person: Jodi James-Genovese
This long-awaited program trained a cross-section of the High School student body in the areas of leadership and diversity awareness and implemented activities for the entire school.
5. Project Title: Internship Contact Person: Dr. Brenda Clark
6. Project Title: Trip to International DECA Competition Contact Person: Dr. Brenda Clark
7. Project Title: Office Work Experience Contact Person: Chuck Russell
2006-2007 School Year Projects Implemented
Jenison Public Schools and the Jenison Public Education Foundation are proud to partner together to challenge students in the subject area of Science. By working with the Battle Creek Science Center, the Jenison Public Schools will roll out a new science curriculum for grades 3-6 during the 2006-2007 school year. This new curriculum will focus not only on science but also on critical thinking skills, writing, and reading.
Although the Jenison Public Schools has a long history of having excellent science programs at all levels, the program had been viewed as a "stand alone" subject. Our goal now is to challenge Jenison students by combining their skills in reading and writing while working with science concepts. Jenison educator, Leisa Lobbezoo, describes the program as a "weaving of math, science, thinking and writing skills, which result in greater learning and a better understanding of the world around them."
Photos by Dave Tchozewski
2005-2006 School Year Projects Implemented
1. Project Title: Computer Technology for Professional Videography
Contact Person: Chris Terpstra
This project will provide high school students opportunities to edit and produce documentaries, short films, commercials, and other video productions for the community and school district. The funds will be used to purchase an updated computer that will be used solely by the students in the video production class for "Tip Top Productions, and three final cut program upgrades to keep the technology current for some time. This class has already worked on some wonderful projects including commercials for the Strings and Voices of Spring concert, OAISD Career Showcase, Ida's Pastry Shoppe, and the Outdoorsman. Students are currently working on creating a virtual tour of the entire facility at Sunset Manor . This equipment will provide students with "hands-on" video production experience to enhance their portfolios for college and employment opportunities while creating better quality productions for the school, district, and community.
Students with disabilities are often overwhelmed by the general education curriculum. The reading level of many textbooks is above their ability to read. They have the desire to learn, but lack the ability to read the content information and comprehend it at the level necessary for mastery. The grant will purchase four Victor Reader Vibe portable CD players. These CD players not only allow students to listen to text being read to them, they also record where a particular book stopped (up to 14 at a time), allowing many students to use the player and CD during the day. Students can then easily come back to the book later and find their place. The players can bookmark information, too, which will be helpful when completing more comprehensive assignments. There are over 250 students with disabilities being served in the high school currently, so the potential benefit of these CD players is enormous.
This grant will purchase fifteen new microscopes for Jenison Junior High School. The current scopes were purchased before 1977. There are several different models, and most do not work properly. The 7th grade science teachers are piloting a new scope and sequence this year based on new state benchmarks. The life science unit has had to be dramatically changed. The new microscopes will be very helpful in reviewing previously learned material and mastering new concepts, with the goal being to accomplish twice the material in half the time since the scopes will all be the same, and function properly. These new microscopes will be able to touch every 7th grader for another forty years (we hope)!.
As teachers continue to find good ways to teach reading and writing strategies, it has been found at Sandy Hill that students are enjoying reading traditional folk tales and fairy tales. This year the state has added them into genre GLCE's (Grade Level Content Expectations) for three grade levels. This means there is a need for the collection of these tales to grow. There has also been a 6th grade folk tale reading club that these materials will continue to benefit in the future. The goals are for students to read a variety of quality folklore from around the world, and give students and staff a wider selection of folk tales to choose from thus increasing circulation. There is also the potential to share these folk tales and fairy tales with other elementary schools.
Jill and Michael Gallina are nationally known composers, conductors, pianists, and vocalists. During their two day residency, Ms. Gallina will premier and rehearse her commissioned piece to be performed as the grand finale to the 2007 Festival of Voices concert involving all of the choral music students in grades 4-12. She and Michael will also present a workshop for the JPS Choral Staff and other Ottawa County area music educators entitled Building Choral Excellence in Beginning Choirs, as well as holding clinics with our Elementary Honors Choir and other JPS choirs. This residency will be co-sponsored by the OAISD who will be responsible for at least half the cost and assist in the advertising and organization of the music education workshop. Not only will many students benefit from this residency, but the community will as well.
The foundation for literacy is laid in early childhood. Multimedia items purchased would promote literacy for pre-readers and emergent readers, expanding the library at the ECC to include more appropriate selections for children of a younger age. Materials selected would address all development domains: aesthetic, affective, cognitive, language, physical, and social. As an example, research has shown that the Baby Einstein DVD's stimulate children's brains by improving verbal ability, spatial intelligence, creativity, and memory. Emphasis will be made to purchase titles with a literature connection. This project will help to promote literacy at an early age by addressing all developmental domains.
The construction of this project will help with instruction on pond ecosystems. A pond will be built in the courtyard of Bauerwood Elementary School. A Jenison High School student, along with his Boy Scout Troop and some adult guidance, will be heading up the project. The purpose of the project is for teachers at Bauerwood to be able to use this pond as a tool for teaching environmental science in a hands-on way. Students will be able to see, feel, and hear what they are learning which has been shown to improve retention of information. They will be able to take water samples, look at fish and how they live and develop, etc. The pond will also help the space to be more inviting for other school related activities. A plan is already in place for maintenance of the pond each spring.
Computer-based language intervention software offers the advantage of providing the highly structured interactions needed to improve literacy. Improvements in language and communication skills have been documented using such programs for both academically able and special-needs learners. Children demonstrate increased attention and motivation when using a computer and generally retain the skills over a longer period of time. The goals of using the computer based Buddy Bear series are to attract and engage, practice and retain language concepts in individualized areas of need, and to improve skills necessary for literacy. These include increasing comprehension and use of basic vocabulary, gaining an understanding of grammatical forms and sentence structure, increasing verbalization and word order, and refining story-telling abilities. Other topics included are cause & effect relationships, listening skills, and turn taking.
Students will use 15 Global Positioning System hand-held devices to enhance their understanding of the geographic world around them. These systems will be available to all teachers of JPS, particularly 6th through 12th graders. Students will have the opportunity to work in collaborative, cross-age learning/ exploration teams solving real world problems. Skills learned in Math, Social Studies, and Science can be reinforced and expanded upon in an exciting, activity based way. Some of the goals of the project are as follows: Providing hands on/ minds on interactive learning activities using technology in practical situations, integrating different subject areas as students collect and record data, reinforcing concepts like decimal and measurement accuracy beyond algebra and geometry, coordinate graphing and calculating while manipulating ordered pairs of points, surveying and calculating size of land (area and perimeter). Additional perks to the project are exercise and fresh air since most of the activities will take place outside!
Pictures of the Geo Quest Project in action:
Photos by Dave Tchozewski
The intent of this project is to make the settlement of Michigan come alive for 4th grade students through a multi-sensory, participatory experience. Michael Deren, an actor and musician, uses music, songs, and the words of common people whose labor built Michigan in an audience-centered program. He will bring a set of two presentations of imagination, hands-on interaction and understanding to all of our 4th graders. Through this program, students will be able to make applications to historical content they already know, and make connections to the new information presented. Mr. Deren will use a banjo, concertina, bones, penny whistle, and limber toys as he shares songs and stories answering the question, "How did the settlers get to Michigan?"
The JPEF purchased a digital projector for Jenison Junior High last year. It has been used almost every day since. Jenison Junior High students and teachers are encouraged to use a variety of technological resources for study, research, problem-solving, and presentations. Digital projectors are requested for use in all subject areas, on a sign-in, sign-out basis. Projectors are used by many teachers currently at the Junior High to the point of often not being available for all who wish to use them. It will be hugely beneficial to other teachers and students who can use this technology for sharing power point presentations, web site research, instruction, data analysis - graphing or charting, etc. to add two more digital projectors to the Junior High.
As teachers continue to find good ways to teach reading and writing strategies, it has been found at Bursley that students are enjoying reading traditional folk tales and fairy tales. The state has also now added them into genre GLCE's (Grade Level Content Expectations) for three grade levels. This means there is a need for the collection of these tales to grow. There has also been a 6th grade folk tale reading club that these materials will continue to benefit in the future. The goals are for students to read a variety of quality folklore from around the world, and give students and staff a wider selection of folk tales to choose from thus increasing circulation. There is also the potential to share these folk tales and fairy tales with other elementary schools.
2004-2005 School Year Projects Implemented
1. Project Title: Microscope Grant
Contact Person: Sue Teeples
Sue Teeples, Bauerwood educator, was awarded a grant from Bauerwood for two high quality microscopes to be used with all lab projects in the school. These scopes will have 40x, 100x, and 400x magnification capability as well as illumination. Bauerwood school has also matched this grant, so the school will benefit from four new microscopes. This updated technology will help elementary students with the understanding of microscopic science functions, and other science concepts. The new scopes will be available to all students at Bauerwood elementary, and potentially teachers from other elementary buildings.
Lee Westervelt, Principal of the Early Childhood Center was awarded a grant which will be provide children with a more in depth understanding of life sciences and habitat functions. The systems include examples of root systems, plant systems, insects, birds, aquatic plants, fish, amphibians, and their habitats. The sets also include manipulatives for hands-on learning. Gifted, general education and special education students will benefit from these materials. The JPEF has budgeted 2500 dollars be granted for new equipment at the early childhood center. This Ecology Systems Grant is a great start.
Nancy Brower, media specialist at the junior high was awarded a grant of $750 to extend the graphic novel collection. These books target the students who continues to benefit from pictures in conjunction with text to help with sequencing and comprehension of information. These novels are very popular among junior high students. This grant will go far in continuing to try to attract reluctant readers to quality books.
Janice Staley, Baurerwood media specialist is being awarded this grant for a district wide reading incentive program in the hopes of uniting all students with the common goal of reading. This program is the follow up to the very successful PAWS for READING from last year. Cats U Reading will expand and enhance that program. The program will once again take place in March, which is Reading Month. Wildcat cling ons 
will be given to those students who meet their reading goal which will be displayed on a front house window or car window. This will again generate more reading excitement as students see all of their reading efforts shown in windows all over Jenison. Watch for the large kick-off program which will begin in March. The entire staff and student body of Jenison Public Schools will be involved.
Nate Greenwood was awarded a grant to purchase a slab roller for the Jenison Junior High School Art Department. The slab roller will enable students to flatten clay to a uniform thickness for various art projects, including "Bowls for the Hungry." "Bowls for the Hungry" is an annual community service project implemented at the Junior High School and benefits nearly one thousand less fortunate citizens in the greater Grand Rapids Area. About 300 junior high regular and special educations students use their talent and creativity to produce unique soup bowls that are sold in the spring at the Career and Talent Expo. The bowls are sold along with a meal at the Expo with one hundred percent of the proceeds being donated to God's Kitchen. The purchase of a slab roller will greatly improve and expedite the production of all art projects using clay.
One thousand dollars was awarded to Susan Wright to purchase literacy and storytelling bags. These bags include a book, puppets, plush animals, and other objects that are designed specifically for storytelling purposes. Reading to children at a young age has significant impact on their overall literacy future. Storytelling bags will promote story interaction with students as the story is being read.
Bridging the gap between boys' and girls' literacy levels was the motivation behind this proposal for a grant awarded to Karen Weaver. This language arts based initiative will attempt to bridge the gap in boys' and girls' literacy by expanding the literature collections to include reading materials which foster male literacy and enthusiasm for reading and writing.
Rhymes-n-Times is a hands-on approach to teaching multiplication facts in both a visual and kinesthetic way. Memorizing multiplication facts is often a struggle, particularly for special education students. This program will be used with categorical special education students as well as upper elementary resource room students.
Marilyn Hughes was awarded a grant to fund a project that involves a multi-sensory approach to teaching math facts to third grade students. The program involves visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile activities. The goal is to teach multiplication facts mastery through an approach that is fun and hands-on.
This grant awarded to Jenison Junior High School teacher, Char Mervenne, will fund the development of the "I Cat" logo that will remind students of all ages to stay safe while online. Accompanying the logo will be three to four general phrases cautioning students of the importance of Internet safety. This grant will help extend the district-wide Internet Safety Initiative.
Annie Barton was awarded a grant to provide funding for a one-year magazine subscription for each fourth grade student. Given five appropriate and varied titles, each student will be able to choose the magazine that most appeals to him or her and will receive the magazine at home. Research shows the more students read, the better readers they become. Receiving their own magazine at home will give them another reading option. By generating excitement and enthusiasm for reading at school, this grant award will prospectively carry this reading momentum beyond the school day.
Donna Bergeon was awarded a foundation grant to purchase a digital projector. Jenison Junior High students are encouraged to use a variety of technological resources for study, research, problem solving, and presentations. With this grant award, students and teachers will benefit tremendously by having a digital projector at their disposal for power point presentations, web site research, instruction, and data analysis.
Books in the "Let's-Read-and-Find-Out" series by Paul Showers not only provide answers, but also generates questions about how things happen in society. These books include fundamental science concepts, and presents them to students in a way that allows them to make text-to-self connections while referencing science terminology.
Deb Streelman-Dismukes was awarded a grant to fund a piece of artwork which will be created by the students of Sandy Hill Elementary School. Using individually designed tiles, students will create a unified piece of artwork that will foster their individuality and problem-solving skills.
A grant in the amount of $1,300 was awarded to Jodi James for the media center outreach program. While the media center reaches many students before, during, and after school as the academic and physical hub of the building, this grant will afford the opportunity to reach all students in a manner that best suits their interests and abilities. The components to this program include: updating the current selection of recorded books to books on CD, expanding the collection of graphic novels which will reinforce reading skills by using a greater variety of visual cues, playing different music like, jazz, blues, Broadway tunes and opera in the media center, and reintroducing the art of playing board games instead of playing games on the computer.
Mary Muller, Special Education Teacher at Rosewood Elementary School, was awarded a foundation grant to help fund the purchase of picture books. Children's books are a quick and fun way to highlight certain writing traits for students to work on, thus helping them to become successful lifelong writers. These books also help foster motivation for better work production in a highly visual way.
2003-2004 School Year Projects Implemented
1. Project Title: District Wide Reading Incentive Program...PAWS (Pause) for
Reading
Contact Person: Vicki Bliss/Media Specialists, Tim Staal
print to be displayed on a window of their home or their car window. It is hoped that by the end of March the paw prints will be everywhere and the importance of reading will be demonstrated throughout the Jenison community.
Research has demonstrated that using picture storybooks in the classroom will help adolescent students become more strategic readers and gain more meaning from their reading. It has been found that many seventh and eighth grade students do not naturally utilize strategies such as connecting, questioning, visualizing, inferring, and synthesizing in order to make their reading experience more meaningful. Using the picture books provided by this grant will give students multiple opportunities to develop and practice these reading strategies that will lead to a positive reading experience.
The popularity of the video production course at Jenison High School continues to grow. With this grant, we hope to improve this excellent course by purchasing an additional camera which will allow more students to participate in either the independent internship program or the Jenison Fine Arts Program. All students, staff, and administrators in the district will benefit as these students continue to produce award winning, quality films for Jenison Public Schools.
With this grant, we hope to put kindergarten and sixth grade students together to help improve their reading proficiencies and build positive relationships at the same time. By gathering books of three different genres to be used during individual reading, peer partner reading time, and also during the cross age partner reading activities, students will work together in creating visual images, drawing inferences, and talking about what they are reading. This project, based on the work of Debbie Millerıs Reading With Meaning, will help create a culture and climate for thinking while reading, and developing proficiencies through partner reading.
The goal of this project is to help students make the connection between the literature books they loved as younger students with the broader application of science to the real world. Literature that many students have read in the past will be incorporated into review station activities and will be used to help students think in terms of scientific information. This will also allow students, who may struggle with grade level reading, a chance to apply science concepts without getting bogged down with grade level reading.
Students will brainstorm and research careers at the beginning of each unit. Units will include geology, life science, archaeology, biology, and chemistry. Toward the end of each unit, a speaker will be invited to class to share both their expertise in the specific science area and general career information. Every effort will be made to bring in culturally and gender diverse speakers who will serve as role models to all populations of students.
2002-2003 School Year Projects Implemented
1. Project Title: Summer Multimedia Camp
Contact Person: To Be Determined
This project purchases an instrument called the Proscope, which magnifies objects via a computer. This allows teachers and students to magnify plant organs, rocks, crystals, or other scientific material, observe this material in greater detail, and discuss what is being observed as a class.
First Lego League is the junior division of the First Robotics for students ages 9-12. The league is a six-week adventure for a team of Jenison students, seven to ten students from two elementary buildings, who would participate in regional and nationwide competitions. Students are presented with the problem and they must work together to research, design, build, and program a Lego robot to solve these problems and accomplish a specific task. The goal of this project is to build self-confidence, knowledge and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering.
This project addresses reading difficulties that students at the junior high school level experience. The goal is to create a reading laboratory equipped with a variety of materials, including the Reading Bridge program, computer software, informational texts, and a fiction library with varying instructional levels. The program will emphasize reading strategies such as inferencing, predicting, problem solving, and self-monitoring so that students can pinpoint their mistakes and learn new reading skills.
Each year approximately 300 elementary students volunteer their own recess time to serve as conflict managers. The students work with others who have disputes during recess and help these children find a nonviolent resolution to their problem. the purpose of this grant is to enhance the role of these conflict managers. The Conflict Managers would learn organized games which enhance social skill development and teach these games to students who are either socially isolated or aggressive on the playground.
For the past several years, the Jenison Junior High School Broadcasting Network has presented the school with live announcements on Friday mornings. This production has allowed members of the TV-Video Club the chance to use their technical know-how to produce this short programming segment.
This project would expand both the scope of the production but also in the number of students who would be able to participate. Teachers of speech classes would use the requested equipment to provide their students with real-life, hands-on activities in an in-depth study of broadcasting. Students would be challenged to speak in front of a television audience using speaking skills and techniques taught in the classroom. They will also have the opportunity to critique their efforts, afterwards from the recorded session.
Presently in the Transportation Technology class at Jenison Junior High, students learn about the engineering process used in designing and building a CO driven racecar. The students build the car, utilizing their learned engineering skills, to go as fast as possible. The present school record is 53.6 MPH. Each 9-week class competes in a time trial and double elimination tournament. A grand championship is held at the end of the school year. To enhance the program a new starting and finishing gate is needed. This new and updated gate will allow computer starting and recording of times, but will also include individual starter controls. Winning times are recorded on an LCD panel with 6-inch numbers. Since competitions are held in the cafeteria during lunch, the larger time display allows more students to observe results and make the connection between design and performance.
1. Project Title: Sculpting Minds of Tomorrow
Contact Person: Donna VanderPlas
Students today are being asked to write now more than ever. They are expected to explain thoughts, theories, and ideas in writing. Teachers must also be able to take more time with students individually in this very difficult process. Time constraints and student/staff ratios make it difficult to conference and collaborate with individual students to go over what they have written.
In this project students will read their written work into a tape recorder. Students will play back their written work as they also read what they have written. Students will be able to focus on grammatical structure as well as the contents of their piece while identifying phrases and sections that might be unclear. With the recorder, students will have the opportunity to stop, rewind and replay their own voices to assist them during the job of self-editing.
The Missoula Children's Theatre is the largest touring children's theatre program in the United States. This program will create a week-long residency during which a team of two staff directors will develop and produce a full-scale musical with 50-60 Jenison Public School students as cast members. Student auditions, intensive rehearsals, workshops and finished performances for the public are all part of the residency. Scripts are well-structured, and major roles are large, complex, and challenging. Each production comes complete with professionally designed and executed scenery, costumes, props, and make-up, as well as sound and lighting equipment. The residency date is September 17-22, 2001 and the production will be Tales of Hans Christian Anderson.
Seventy-five fourth grade students will have the opportunity to read books with minorities as the protagonist. Students will have the opportunity to read about strong, positive, and diverse characters including an individual who has permanent scarring from a fire, an African-American girl, an adolescent girl with divorced parents, a boy with cerebral palsy who uses a wheel chair, and a Native American young man.
Students will also have the opportunity to meet Mr. Johnnie Tuitel, a Michigan author of one of the literature group mysteries. Mr. Tuitel, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, speaks with students about writing, growing up handicapped, and doing the best you can in the face of adversity.
A dramatic play center will be built in this lower elementary school program to build listening comprehension, sequencing skills, fluency, sight word vocabulary, and an enjoyment of books. The overall goal of the program is to develop students who are strong in the language arts area. This grant will purchase a listening center with multiple books with tapes, and puppets. The teacher is planning on donating a dramatic play theatre.
In addition a variety of Jenison Public School staff members and other local celebrities will be asked to read their favorite book on tape. Students will be able to hear adults they recognize reading their favorite books.
As a part of the science curriculum, teachers demonstrate eye and heart functions through class dissections. This project will provide a more in depth understanding of the eye and heart functions by placing color coded and foam models on the desk of each student. As the teacher is completing the dissections in the front of the room, each student will have a model on their desk to use in following the teacher's demonstration. These models would also enable older students to demonstrate to younger students what they have learned.
Increasingly the topic of bullying and its impact on all children is receiving attention among researchers, educators, parents, and the media. Once thought to be a rite of passage, several myths associated with bullying have dissolved in the face of accurate information. Working together, parents, teachers, and students will effectively address bullying to create a safe learning environment for all students including those who are socially hesitant and immature.
For this project materials and resources necessary to pilot a bully-proofing program in the second and third grade classrooms will be purchased. First a survey of second and third grade parents and teachers will be completed to determine the needs of students and teachers. A Bully-Proofing Resource Guide and a Bully-Proofing Resource Library for teachers of grades two through fourth will be developed and given to teachers. Bully-proofing assemblies and in-service instruction for staff members will be held.
At Jenison High School students learn first-hand about healthy lifestyles and how to achieve higher levels of health through both classroom activities and actual experiential activities. They leave high school with a solid knowledge base about where they are currently in their fitness level, how to maintain or improve choices they are making, and how to set and achieve goals leading them to a higher level of fitness. It is hoped that this knowledge, if applied, will help them enjoy life at a healthier level for the rest of their lives.
Presently students carry a notebook and record what they have accomplished. This grant would take the recording one step further. The Fitnessgram software program purchased through this grant would allow students to enter data, receive immediate feedback on results, compare their results to health standards, and help them set further goals. The Fitnessgram would allow every student at JHS to record, compare, and analyze their activities, both in the classroom and in the field. Thus students could leave the high school with actual records of their progress, final results, and an individualized plan for their future.
A Jenison Elementary school would like to make a 135 gallon aquarium the centerpiece of both its school and its science program. Data collection, ecology studies, how plant and fish live together, and the effects of environmental pollution are projects that will surround this grant. Grades one through six will be involved. The grant will be done in cooperation with a local business as well.
The purpose of this project is to provide categorical special education students the opportunity to learn through real-life, community based experiences. Students will practice school learned skills in business establishments and restaurants in the Jenison community. Students will use appropriate etiquette and manners, will speak clearly and use good communication skills, and will handle money appropriately.
A general goal of the Jenison Junior High School's program for students with mental impairments is to emphasize independence to the greatest extent possible. Throughout the school year skills such as teamwork, cooperation, problem solving and personal hygiene are taught and practiced within the school environment. This project takes the students out of the school environment and into the real world where these skills are demanded. For four days in May, the students will camp at Ludington State Park and cook, clean, set up tents, work as a group, and many other chores. It will give students an opportunity to be on their own and experience successes and failures without parents to do tasks for them.
(The Jenison Ambucs agreed to fund this grant and Dr. Ed Schmidt, a Psychologist practicing in the Jenison area and president of Ambucs made the presentation.)
2000-2001 School Year
Projects Implemented
Read Beyond is a project designed by JPS to provide a differentiated reading and writing opportunity for first grade students either enter first grade already reading or those who proceed at a much faster pace than their grade level peers. This would be accomplished through the writing of several reading and writing cubes with each accompanied by a student packet. A set of chapter or informational books would be provided for each first grade teacher throughout the district. Release time would be provided by 13 first grade staff members so that techniques developed would be used cross curricular and in an ongoing manner.
A new nine week class will be offered for students with mental impairments and autism so that they may safely use power and hand tools. The students will create a project that will be displayed and judged at the Michigan Industrial Technology Education Society's Wood Fair. One technology teacher, a special education teacher, and a paraprofessional will supervise the success of this experience. Placed special significantly challenged children in challenging but safe situation. Also creates the opportunity for special and general education teachers to team teach.
The materials purchased by this grant would give an elementary school building the science fair resources to help every student understand how to build a project that can later be presented at an all school science fair. The goal for the science fair is to encourage students to take an idea, and through scientific investigation design, build and document a scientific concept. The materials would be used in the media center and classes would be brought in to instruct from them.
The purpose of this project is to introduce students to the importance of decomposers in the food web as well as the concept of recycling through composting. Cafeteria waste will be added to the vermi composter and schoolyard composter and this organic matter will be turned into enriched soil and used in a red worm growing tub.
A large mesh enclosure will be housed in the art/science room and will contain flying insects such as butterflies and invertebrates. Plants will be added as well. The project will increase student understanding of ecological systems and their interdependence as well as insect development. Informational readings are also a part of the Insectaria Project. Students will maintain and monitor the growth of living organisms. This information will be recorded, charted, graphed, and interpreted in project form.
The digital age can benefit special education students who have a difficult time communicating using traditional channels of communication. The goal of this project is to utilize digital photography to enhance and enrich expressive language skills for special education students. Individual pictures, and slide shows will be taken in the classroom and the larger school environment, and used to generate conversations and writing assignments. These pictures and writings will be shared with parents through a classroom built web page. These pictures can also be shared school-wide during the morning announcements.
The Flexcam is a unique teaching device that enables teachers to demonstrate small items to an entire class on the TV/VCR. The projection system is ideal for presenting information from microscopes, 35mm slides, and art activities to a large classroom of students. The Flexcam would be used by two elementary buildings kindergarten through the sixth grade.
This grant will train one teacher in the Analyze and Apply model for a Michigan based teacher training and lesson plan company whose main goal is to connect the learning of the core curriculum to the development of proficiencies required for the workplace. Eight core proficiencies are identified to help in making the change from educating students for the industrial age to educating for the technological age. A Learner Profile will be used in an authentic assessment. This teacher will be responsible in sharing this program with other sixth grade teachers.
This Jenison Elementary school will develop a sister school with Brookside Elementary in the Grand Rapids Public Schools in hopes of increasing awareness in cultural understanding. Brookside School is approximately 60% Hispanic, with the remaining 40% both Caucasian and African American. One first grade and one fifth grade classroom will be involved. Video tapes, pen pals, Native American Tour with the Brookside School at the Grand Rapids Public Museum, participation in Martin Luther King Day, and a service project will be included.
This project will help students learn how to improve on presentations using voice, character, eye contact, and movement. It will also allow students to use a script as in Readers Theater, and help students create their own stories. The puppets purchased would include many of those animals studied in their biome unit. Students will also use the puppets or oral presentations to tell the results of their research.
Family involvement in education has been shown to be a critical link to student achievement in schools. Research shows that when parents are meaningfully involved in education, their children do better in school. This grant would provide a series of parent education classes which will be available for parents of children in kindergarten through second grades at one elementary school building. Six different classes will be offered and one teacher will be responsible for the project implementation.
Horseback riding as therapy is an opportunity to provide students with autism physical therapy while stressing developmental, recreational, and social skills. This program, provided by The Equest Center for Therapeutic Riding, Inc. in Rockford, Michigan will allow students in our two elementary classrooms a unique experience in sensory-motor integration. Sensory-motor integration is an important part of these youngsters' educational program. Students involved are 3-12 years of age, from two elementary classrooms for students with autism who are currently involved in Occupational and Physical Therapy programs.
This grant was funded by the Jenison Ambucs.
Eighth grade students will prepare and present their own Career Fair which will be the end product of several research, experience, and organizational activities that allow students to explore a career area of their choice, including arranging and participating in a job shadow experience.
With the Automated Weather Source program, real-time weather data will be used for enhanced mathematics, geography and science education, as well as allowing students to use knowledge from these three subjects to examine data, develop a hypothesis, and make daily presentations, including "real time" on the Internet allowing parents and members of the community to view current weather information on line and working in conjunction with TV station WOTV as a credited weather data source.
The Fiddlers Philharmonic will teach two clinics on bluegrass and blues playing techniques, giving students hands-on exposure to this unique multicultural art form with the primary goal to provide students with and in-depth exposure to the vast world of folk music and fiddling, and the secondary goal to encourage student interaction between school musicians from other districts.
Math Facts in a Bag will help students with the essential skill of math fact memorization in order for them to be successful in having rapid recall of the basic facts for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division and will create a link between home and school with daily repetition and practice both at home and at school.
The Courtyard Garden project will make use of the junior high courtyard space to develop a garden and hands-on learning laboratory as students design, develop and plant a greenhouse which will include garden beds, composting boxes, and walkways, and which will support the life sciences unit currently being taught in the seventh grade science classes.
With the Eco-Bus project, Jenison will join Grandville and Hudsonville Schools as well as GVSU in building, outfitting, and promoting a well-equipped mobile science laboratory for field and aquatic study to serve as a field classroom with workstations, equipment, and materials for a class of 30 students.
The mission of the Missoula Children's Theatre project is the development of life skills in children through participation in the performing arts, including creativity, social skills, goal achievement, communication skills and self-esteem.
The Computer Read Textbooks project will help high school students with disabilities who face major challenges when they need to look up questions for class work, review textbooks prior to taking a test, or read research materials before writing papers, by allowing them to hear the text being read from the computer.
Visual Links combines the use of computers, the Internet, and art to allow students working in teams to create original pieces of visual art using the drawing program "Color It," a scanner, and digital camera, and then transmitting the artwork to other classrooms around the world.
The Early Childhood Alphabet Manipulative program uses chart boards, marker boards, classroom Touch Phonics materials, paper and pencil, big books, classroom sets of letter blending, student workbooks, and a rich literature base to develop a Jenison-made curriculum which includes oral language, whole language, and phonics to help every level of student learn to read, write and spell better.
Students assigned to cooperative groups or Survival Teams will read from a variety of materials and will receive points which will allow them to travel through Central and South America using the points they earn to purchase supplies, tools, food and medicine, with the teams deciding how best to spend the points to survive.
Artifact Kits purchased from countries in Central and South America will be shared with all Jenison fifth grade teachers to use in studying these countries to give the students a chance to have a concrete, visual experience with the cultures of Latin America.
The Classroom Hydroponics System Project will use the hydroponics system to help students better understand how light, water, nutrients and biotechnology create healthy crops in extreme climates, integrating math and science with technology as students monitor how lettuce plants are affected by different conditions.
The Visual Mission Statement project will allow high school students, working with a local artist, to create a mural for the Jenison High School that will be a visual greeting and reminder of the school's philosophy that all students have special talents and that art can play an important role in everyday life.
The goal of the Tune in Next Week: . . . program is to tailor the seventh grade book list so that all ten titles are part of a series appropriate for the middle grade reader and enable the students to select series books which represent a wide variety of reading levels and interests so that each student can find one to suit his or her academic and personal needs.
With the Laser Light and Sound Transmission program, teachers were able to demonstrate to students in a hands-on demonstration how the laser light works with various objects.
From the Weather Watchers lab the students will chart daily weather and issue their own forecasts.
The River Ecosystem model contained eddies, pools, a waterfall, plants, fish, other aquatic animals and microorganisms.
With the Operant Lab high school students studied behavior modification in a project affectionately referred to as a "Rat Lab."
The Better Future Through Books project allowed the ACT students to purchase materials for a state-of-the-art reference library.
The Missoula Children's Theatre program provides students at all age levels an opportunity to experience performing arts, many for the first time.
The Rainbow Reading Puzzles program is designed to encourage reading in the first grade by rewarding students with a puzzle piece for each hour of reading during a six week time period after which time they put their puzzle pieces together and discover who the art student was who created their puzzle.
The Reading Is For Everyone literature-based program provides students with reading opportunities at their own independent and instructional levels and, after completing five books at a given level, students prepare a creative project, such as a diorama or poster, about their favorite book.
The Odyssey of the Mind program, which includes students from all six elementary buildings, fosters teamwork, creative thinking and problem solving skills.
The Weather Station project benefits the science department with on-site weather data provided by this station, the computer science department with real time data to be used in charting and spreadsheet projects, and the weather station can monitor temperatures, barometric pressure, humidity and rainfall, as well as wind direction, speed and chill.
The Implementing Connected Math program benefits students in two target areas, fractions and geometry, by supplementing their current math curriculum with materials in the Connected Mathematics program.
The Artist in Residence program provides students with the opportunity to interact with the symphony musicians who perform several concerts for students and parents alike, providing their audience an evening of visual and performing arts.
The Picture This program succeeded in introducing students to the understanding and use of both photography and video and, in conjunction with the West Michigan Science Festival, students visited the Steelcase audio-visual department, learning to work together as a team and making decisions quickly and cooperatively.
Description of project not currently available.
Description of project not currently available.
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